Feeding means for belt conveyers.



W.RE1NE0KE. FEEDINGVMEANS FOR BELT GONVEYERS. Y APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25. 1910.

3 SHEETS-BHEET 2` WITNESSES: I VENTOR 4 l f l a ATTORNEYS THE NaRRls PETERS co., WASHINGTON, D. c.

Patented Feb. 7, 1911.

W. REINBCKE.- PEEDING MEANS POR BELT CONVEYERS.

f APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25. 1910,. 983,31 3. Patent-ea Feb. 7, 191.1.

-3 SHEBTS-SHBET 3.

, 'mENToR I 142A ORNEYs' vusrimuron. n. c.

- essere.

S PAEN WILLIAM REINECKE,

or NEW Yoan,

FEEDING MEANS FOR BELT OONVEYERS.

ticularly to improvements in means for feeding material to the conveyor belt in the direction and at the speed of movement of the belt whereby the material is deposited upon the belt quietly, without friction against the surface of the belt, and with a minimum `amount of shock. ln a co-pending application Serial Number 508,864 tiled January 19, 1910, l have shown means of this character comprising a rotating feeding wheel, ther periphery of which is arranged to rotate at a surface speed of travel of th-e belt, the point of discharge from which is arranged in the immediate proximity of the belt, and the direction of rotation of which is in the direction of rotation of the belt.

ltty present application relates mainly to improvements in and relating to such feeder wheel, and improvements in and relating to the means by which material to be delivered to the belt conveyor is received within the said wheel.

1n order that my invention may be fully understood l will now proceed to describe certain embodiments of the same, having reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating them, and will then point out the novel features in claims.

ln the drawings: Figure 1 is a view in central. vertical transverse section through an apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention. llig. 2 is a view substantially in vertical horizontal section therethrough, the line of section being taken through the axial center of the said wheel. Figs. 3 and lare similar views showing a modified form of wheel. Figs. 5 and 6 are similar views showing a further modilication of the form of wheel employed.

The belt conveyer shown comprises a conveyer belt having an upper runway 10 and a return portion 11, a driving pulley 1Q over which the belt is arranged to pass and by which it is driven, idler troughing pulleys Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led June 25, 1910.

Patented Feb. 7, 1911.

Serial No. 568,810.

13 for the upper runway of the belt, and cylindrical idler pulleys la for supporting the return portion of the belt. The feeding mechanism comprises a feeding wheel or drum 15 arranged to rotate with its periphery in close proximity to the upper surface of the active portion l() of the belt, and a stationary guard or casing member 1G arranged between the said feed wheel and the 'conveyor belt. rlhe wheel 15 is connected by suitable pulleys and a belt connection 17 with the drive wheel 12 for the conveyer belt, the said connecting belt being crossed whereby the direction of movement of the adjacent portions of the belt and wheel are in the same direction, and the diameter of the pulleys being such that the surface speed of the belt and the peripheral speed of the wheel are substantially uniform. The guard or casing member 16 conveniently terminates at a point about in a vertical line with the axis of rotation of the wheel 15, being shown in fact in Fig. 1 of the drawings as slightly in advance of such line. rlhis guard or casing member thus arranged prevents material delivered to the feeding wheel from engaging the belt until it has passed the center of the wheel, it being delivered freely upon the belt immediately in advance of this point.

The wheel is provided with a plurality of paddle blades 18 by which the positive feeding of material is insured, and material is fed to the said whe-el by means of a conduit 1Q which terminates in a spout 20 received -within the wheel, the discharge end of the spout being arranged in close proximity to the inner edges of the said paddle blades. 1n order that an open space may be provided for receiving the end of the conduit and spout, the said wheel is conveniently arranged upon a shaft 21 which extends from one side of the wheel only, suitable bearings 22 being provided for supporting the said shaft, the belt wheel connections being arranged between the two said bear ings as is clearly shown in Fig. 2. B

reason of the fact that the material is fed to the wheel upon the inside thereof the liability of the material to choke or jam is largely obviated, and I find such arrangement exceedingly advantageous for this reason. I also preferably provide the lower wall of the spout with yielding sections comprising spring fingers 23, normally held in position by springs 24 but which will yield under stress so that should any lumps of the material be momentarily caught between one of the blades 18 and the lower wall of the spout as the wheel 15 advances, one or more of these ngers will yield to permit the passage of the material and thereby to absolutely prevent damage to the wheel or the spout, or the locking up of the wheel.

Because of the possible tendency of the Vmaterial to hang back as the wheel advances,

due to the frictional engagement between it and the face of the guard or casing niember 16, I have in Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 shown certain modifications wherein the wheel is provided with a peripheral closure comprising a plurality of swinging gates. In Figs. 3 and it such gates 25 are shown as pivoted vto the side walls of the wheel upon axes parallel with the axis of rotation of the w/heel. These gates may be arranged to freely swing open, being closed by gravity as they Vrise above the center of the wheel in its rotation, and maintained closed by their engagement with the guard or casing member 16 as they descend upon the opposite side of the wheel. As they leave the forward end of this guard or casing member in the rotation of the wheel, which is at the point at which the material is to be discharged upon the conveyer belt, they will swing open by gravity aided by the weight of the material, whereby the material will be discharged freely at this point upon the belt.. Such an arrangement will tend to insure an even distribution of the material upon the conveyer belt as will be readily understood. In Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown another form of these swinging gates in which they are pivotally connected to the wheel upon axes at right angles to the axis of rotation of the wheel, two such gates 26 being conveniently employed between each pair of blades 1S, each gate being substaiitially half the width of the wheel and the edges of each pair thereof being arranged to meet when in a closed position (see particularly Fig. 6). If desired stationary cams or projections 27 may bek employed to insure the closing of the gates as they rise in the rotationv of the wheel above the center thereof, the said gates being maintained in a closed position by the guard or casing member 16 upon the opposite side of the wheel, the forward edge of the said guard or casing member in this case being preferably terminated at an earlier point so that as each pair of gates reaches a point iinmediately below the center of the wheel they will be permitted to swing open to discharge as is shownin Fig. 5. Y I' In the operation of any one of the structures shown, material is fed through the chute 19 to the feed wheel by which it is in turn fed to the conveyer belt. The material 5 leaves the feed wheel while moving in the Y same direction and at the same speed as the belt, and hence is received by the belt without shock and without friction. The interior' feed of the wheel tends to decrease the liability of jamming, this being, of course, largely due to the fact that the receiving area of the wheel increases in the direction in which the material is received, instead of decreasing as would be the case if material were fed to the wheel from the periphery thereof. It will also be seen that the device is a very simple one, and consequently inexpensive to manufacture and unlikely to get out of order.

lVhat I claim is:

1. The combination with a travelingY conveyer belt, of a rotatable wheel the periphery of which is arranged in immediate proximity to the conveying surface of the belt,

means for connecting the belt and wheel together whereby their adjacent surfaces will travel in the same direction and at substantially the same rate of speed, means for delivering material to the wheel at a pointv within the same in a direction toward the exterior of the wheel, and to rear of the vertical pla-ne containing the axis thereof, and a casing element arranged in proximity to the periphery of the wheel, beneath the point at which the material is delivered to the wheel, the said casing element terininating at about the said vertical plane, whereby the material is delivered to the belt from the Vwheel in advance of the said vertical plane.

2. The combination with a traveling conveyer belt, of a rotatable wheel provided with paddle blades, the outer edges of which extend substantially to the exterior periphery of the wheel, the periphery of the said wheel being arranged in immediate proximity to the conveying surface of the belt, means connecting with the interior of the said wheel for delivering material thereto at a point within a circle bounding the interior of the said paddle blades as the wheel revolves, and to iear of the vertical plane containing the axis thereof, a casing element arranged in proximity to the periphery of the wheel, beneath the point at which the material is delivered to the wheel, the said casing element terminating at about the said vertical plane, whereby the material is de-A wheel., means whereby the gates are maintained in a closed position until they reach a point in close proximity to the said belt, and for permitting them to open at such point whereby the material carried by the wheel will be discharged upon the belt, and means for connecting the belt and wheel together whereby their adjacent surfaces will travel in substantially the same direction and at the same rate of speed.

et. rhe combination with a traveling belt eonveyer, of a feed wheel therefor provided with peripheral gates and having paddle blades, the periphery of the said feed wheel being' arranged in close proximity to the upper surface of the said belt, means for :feeding material to the said wheel, at a point therein within a circle which bounds the inner edges of the blades as the wheel revolves, means whereby the gates are maintained in a closed position until they reach a point in close proximity to the said belt, and for permitting them to open at such point whereby the material carried by the wheel will be discharged upon the belt, and means for connecting the belt and wheel together whereby their adjacent surfaces will travel in the same direction and at substantially the same rate of speed.

WILLIAM REINEOKE. lWitnesses D. HOWARD HAYwooD, LYMAN S. ANDREWS, Jr. 

